Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 709: Wandering in the Official Garden

Wang Zhan hurried home and knocked on the door. He Yushui opened the door for him. Wang Zhan didn't want to make his sister worry, so he didn't say anything and went straight to the study to do his homework.

After finishing his homework, Wang Zhan went to cook. He simply fried an egg and made some plain noodles. The three of them sat in the restaurant in the front yard and ate and chatted.

When He Yushui returned home with his schoolbag, Wang Zhan had just closed the door when someone knocked on it. Wang Zhan opened the door and saw that it was Captain Li and Sister Wang. Wang Zhan took them to the reception room and made two cups of tea for them.

Captain Li took a sip and started talking, "Wang Zhan, we found Wen San. He's a street urchin. He found this letter at his doorstep this morning, along with a note and 20,000 yuan. The things were stuffed through the crack in the door. The note told him to deliver the letter and asked him to change into work clothes. The money would be his after he delivered the letter. If he didn't, someone would come after him to settle the score, so that's how things happened."

After Wang Zhan heard this, he asked, "Captain Li, can I see the note?"

Captain Li took out the note and handed it to Wang Zhan. Wang Zhan looked at it carefully and said, "This is a woman's handwriting. Moreover, this is a Shanghai woman."

Captain Li and Sister Wang were both shocked. Captain Li asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Wang Zhan said: "The handwriting is delicate and gentle, which is not something a man can write. Look at the words she crossed out, '收骨', and then changed it to '洗呢你'. '收骨' is a Shanghai dialect, which means to '洗呢你'."

Captain Li and Sister Wang suddenly realized what was going on. Wang Zhan continued, "This Shanghai woman knows Sister Wang and knows that my master is Qi Dasheng. She is also a Shanghai woman. It shouldn't be difficult to check. By the way, is there any problem with the letter?"

Captain Li nodded and said, "There is potassium cyanide in the two footers below."

Wang Zhan smiled and said, "This is revenge for me. Please report this to the Third Bureau. They will probably find out who it is soon."

Captain Li said, "Why do I feel like this person is about to show up? She knows Sister Wang, and she also knows Qi Dasheng. She's a Shanghai woman, and she has a grudge against you. This is really not difficult to find out. Okay, I know. Your Aunt Wang and I will leave first. This is a big deal."

After Captain Li finished speaking, he took Sister Wang away. Yan Jiekuang closed the door. The female teacher with glasses suddenly appeared in his mind. Why did he think of her? Because that woman must be related to Shanghai. She must be from Shanghai or has lived in Shanghai. Some of that woman’s living habits are too refined, which are typical characteristics of Shanghai women.

Wang Zhan went to the backyard, and Wang Li asked, "Who's here? Is there anything wrong?"

"It's Captain Li and Aunt Wang. It's nothing. They just asked about our lives." Wang Zhan didn't want to worry his sister, so he just answered perfunctorily.

In the days that followed, the brother and sister continued to go to school as normal.

On the last holiday in May, Wang Li woke up early. Wang Zhan promised her that he would take her to Guanyuan to buy goldfish.

Wang Zhan cooked porridge in the morning, heated up two corn pancakes, fried a few eggs, and served them with pickled vegetables. This was today's breakfast. After washing up, Wang Li ran to the front yard and went straight to the table to eat. Wang Zhan quickly told her to slow down as there was still plenty of time.

After a while, He Yushui also came. After finishing breakfast with them, Wang Zhan pushed out the small tricycle and took the two of them straight to Guanyuan. When they reached Guanyuan Bridge, they turned east and entered the market. Fortunately, the tricycle was small and they could pass through it. He Yushui and Wang Li had no time to look at both sides.

There was a goldfish seller not far away. Wang Li refused to move forward. Wang Zhan asked, "Boss, how much are the goldfish?"

"Fifty yuan for one, one hundred yuan for three." the goldfish seller replied.

Wang Zhan asked, "How about three hundred yuan for ten fish?" The goldfish seller said, "Okay, you are the first to buy." After that, he took the small basin handed over by Wang Zhan and started to scoop and pack the fish for them.

Wang Zhan went on to say, "Give me another fifty dollars for fish worms." Then he handed a teacup to the goldfish seller.

After buying everything, I put it in the car and asked my sister to keep an eye on it so that it wouldn't spill again.

Wang Zhan continued riding his tricycle. When passing by a flower garden, Wang Zhan bought a few pots of flowers. He also specially selected a pot of daffodils for He Yushui and told her that if the flowers died one day, she should leave the pot to him, which made He Yushui roll her eyes.

The tricycle continued to travel through the market. When it was almost at the end, Wang Zhan heard a dog barking. He turned around and saw a yellow puppy in a cage looking at him, wagging its tail.

This is a Chinese rural dog. Wang Zhan pointed at himself and said, "Are you calling me?"

The puppy barked twice. Wang Zhan felt it was magical and asked, "Will you come with me?" The puppy barked twice again.

Wang Li immediately became interested. Wang Zhan asked the dog seller directly how much the pastoral dog cost. The dog seller said ten thousand yuan. Wang Zhan did not hesitate and paid the money directly. He took the puppy out of the cage and put it on the tricycle. The puppy was very well-behaved and seemed to have just been weaned. Wang Li held it and would not let go.

Seeing that it was almost noon, Wang Zhan rode his tricycle back home. After arriving home, Wang Zhan heated up the porridge he had had in the morning, mixed some minced meat in it, put it in a small bowl, and brought it to the backyard. This was for the little yellow dog to eat.

Then they cooked noodles directly. This was lunch for the three of them. After the meal, Wang Zhan went to clean the fish bowl. There was already one in the backyard, but it had been placed in the corner. This time, Wang Zhan cleaned it and put it back in its place.

Wang Li and He Yushui were playing with the puppy and running around in the backyard. The little yellow dog was chasing them with its short legs, and the two of them were laughing like silver bells from time to time.

Wang Zhan poured water into the fish bowl, then put the little goldfish in and some fish worms.

Wang Li and He Yushui ran over and looked at the little goldfish in the fish bowl, swimming happily in it. They liked it very much. Wang Zhan said, "It will be even more perfect if we put a water lily in it when we have time."

As Wang Zhan was talking, he felt his trouser leg being bitten. The little yellow dog bit his trouser leg and wagged its tail happily. Wang Zhan picked up the puppy and the puppy licked Wang Zhan with its tongue. Wang Zhan said, "We have to give him a name."

Wang Li thought for a long time and said, "Call Xiao Huang?" The little yellow dog seemed to understand and started barking wildly.

Wang Zhan said: "I think it means strong opposition."

Wang Li also barked at the little yellow dog, which made He Yushui and Wang Zhan laugh. Wang Zhan said, "The yellow one should be called Jinbao, right?"

The little yellow dog barked twice, and Wang Zhan said, "See, it agrees. OK, from now on, it will be called Jinbao."

Wang Li did not object and shouted, "Jinbao, come on, I'll take you to the garden to play."

As he said that, he pulled He Yushui and ran towards the garden, with Jinbao following behind him, struggling with his short legs.

(End of this chapter)